St Mungo's, behind closed doors
by Quod Tibi
Summary: Gilderoy Lockhart needs to pay for his gross misuse of memory charms. Torture is called for after he is admitted to St. Mungo's.


_**For QLFC S6R11**_

 **CHASER 3:** **Who's Afraid of the Dark?** American Horror Story (Season 2 - Asylum)

 **Optional Prompts:** (location) St Mungo's, (colour) Lilac, (emotion) shame

He strolled through the corridors of the basement of St. Mungo's, into his favourite chamber. It was equipped with everything he needed for his work, a table to strap down his subject and most importantly the room was completely impervious. No one would be any wiser about what he was doing. His heart rate was beginning to rise as he thought about his new plan.

The perfect subject had been admitted to the Janus Thickey Ward. Gilderoy Lockhart may have been excellent at memory charms, but something had gone terribly wrong. He had never seen anyone in such a state of unknown as Gilderoy. The hardest part of what he was going to attempt to do was that Gilderoy had such a childlike air in his current state.

He, however, knew exactly who Gilderoy used to be. Gilderoy had made the love of his life forget him completely! That stupid git didn't even realize what he had done. In Gilderoy's quest for fame, he had completely changed the path of his life. He should have been married with a gaggle of children by now, but she had no recollection of what they had together. Worst than that, she thought of him as someone she could never trust again.

If he could find a way to unlock Gilderoy's memory, he might be able to get her back. The question is where to start? How to unlock a memory charm? There had been theories that extreme torture could unlock the mind. Although the idea of torturing Gilderoy after what he had done did not bother him; he would not be able to torture his one true love. He would need to take a softer approach. How to torture, without truly torturing?

Would tickling someone into submission work? That would be where he would start. He had already rousted Gilderoy from bed. Gilderoy was wearing a long lilac dressing gown, which looked so girly next to his own lime green robes. Gilderoy was still half asleep and with a wave of his wand he lead Gilderoy quietly down to the basement. They passed no one in the corridors, as he knew the routines of St. Mungo's well and had chosen his path and timing with precision.

Once within the chamber, he eased Gilderoy onto the table and strapped him down. He set to work with tickling. He started with an enchanted feather on the soles of his feet; all the while pleading with him to remember. As Gilderoy's giggling slowly increased in intensity, he started repeating the story of his lost love.

They had meet 10 years ago, he was traveling through the forest just west of Ilkey in West Yorkshire. He had happened upon her while she was reading in the woods. She was so engrossed in her book, that she didn't hear him approach. She had jet black hair halfway down her back. Her skin was like parchment. He had never seen someone as beautiful as she was in that moment. He stood there dumbstruck, not sure how to approach her without frightening her. She eventually looked up and smiled. Her smile radiated happiness. Snapping out of his memories, he focused his attention back on Gilderoy.

"Gilderoy, I need you to listen. Her name was Irma Pince. Isn't that just the most beautiful name?" he said wistfully, while Gilderoy continued to skirm.

"We had been courting for a week, when you found her. Do you remember?"

Gilderoy continued to squirm and giggle. "Please stop with the feather!"

"A group of pixies had happened upon her while she was reading under a tree. The pixies had taken to playing keep away with her books and pulling on her long hair. With quick thinking she had stupefied the lot of them with a stunning spell. Irma was such a vision and smart as a whistle. You changed all that and I saw the whole thing. Instead of leaving well enough alone, you decided to use the scene for one of your books. Do you remember now Gilderoy?"

"Do you want an autograph?" Gilderoy gasped out between fits of laughter.

"No you git! I want you to remember my beautiful Irma." Deep breath. He needed to stay focused, if he was going to finish his story. "Where was I, oh right. Of course, to use it for one of your books, you needed to perform a memory charm, to make sure no one knew who the real hero of this story was. Your memory charm was so strong that when I approached her immediately after you had left, Irma had no recollection of who I was. You had left her without a huge chunk of her memory. Ringing any bells yet?"

"I don't know what you want!" Gilderoy gasped.

He continued to repeat the same story long into the night. In the wee hours of the morning he returned Gilderoy to his bed, with no one the wiser that he hadn't been in his bed all night. He felt exhausted and defeated. He had made no progress in unlocking Gilderoy's mind.

The next night he decided to try something different. Instead of focusing on the memory that was important to him, he decided to find a memory that was important to Gilderoy. He repeated the same process, but focused on one of Gilderoy's many public appearances. After another long night he had a modicum of success. Gilderoy seemed to remember that he had written many books. He took this as progress.

This continued for a fortnight, each night with Gilderoy remembering a little more. Given how long it was taking to snap Gilderoy out of the backfired memory charm, he realized he wouldn't have the stomach to tickle Irma for this long. It did seem like torture; albeit not as unpleasant as some forms of torture. He realized if he could show Gilderoy how shameful it was to steal not only other people's stories, but to also wipe their minds for his glory then maybe, just maybe, Gilderoy would reverse the memory charm from so many years ago.

Each night they systematically worked through Gilderoy's massive collection of books, determining who he had stolen each adventure or tip from. This was done in complete secrecy. Finally it was time for the final step.

He sent an owl asking Irma Pince to come to St. Mungo's to meet with Gilderoy Lockhart. He claimed he needed her expertise to help unlock Gilderoy's memories. As she was as smitten with Gilderoy as the rest of the witches in Britain, she agreed.

Irma Pince made her trip to St. Mungo's while on her Easter break from Hogwarts. She didn't like leaving the castle, it had been her home and sanctuary for so long. She was dressed in a sharp black robe with a lilac scarf that eased the starkness of her fair skin. She also happened to remember that lilac was Gilderoy's favourite colour.

Augustus Pye was watching for Irma's arrival with giddy excitement. He hoped this would all go as planned. When he saw her enter the waiting area he quickly approached her before she could ask for assistance. She showed no sign of recollection when he introduced himself. It was as he expected, although he was still struck hard by the fact he had been pining for her for 10 long years. He escorted her to a visitation room he had flamboyantly decorated in Gilderoy's ecccentric tastes. The colour of lilac was everywhere. He had set up three plush chairs for the meeting. Gilderoy was already comfortable in his chair as Augustus showed Irma into the room. Gilderoy gestured for both to have a seat.

After taking a big breath, Gilderoy tried to explain to Irma that the story about the pixies from his book, was actually her doing. She had been fearless. Even though the pixies had been pulling at her hair and taking her books, she had stunned them all! Irma didn't believe him.

Augustus nodded to Gilderoy who took out his wand. Gilderoy reversed his memory charm.


End file.
